Robben Island, a prize

That is the most famous island in South Africa. Your first thought and association is with Madiba (as Nelson Mandela is famous to South Africans), should you hear the term Robben Island. Robben Island is an area in Table Bay and lies about 8 km from Cape Town and procedures around 3.4 km by 2 km. The name was given to the island due to the seals (robben will be the Netherlands for seal) that lived here. Geographically, this island was once part of the African continent several years ago.

The Netherlands were not the initial Europeans to go on this island. My co-worker found out about read by browsing Yahoo. The Portuguese visited this island a long time ago ahead of the English admiral set foot here in 1591. In 1601 Joris van Spilbergen (from Netherlands) followed and only in 1652 Jan van Riebeeck came. We found out about image by searching Google Books. They tried very hard to develop the fish and seal industry on this area, but because it was so distant, it was used to ban people that had incurable ailments and mad people (from 1846 1931). Even individuals who took sheep or cows were barred for this area, centuries before.

Through the Second World War, the island was used and a light system was built due to the bad stranding history. It had been changed into an exercise camp for the South African Navy following the war ended. To study additional information, consider peeping at: Super-inclusive Vacation Packages: Simplifying Your Planning : beonscreen.

However in 1961 the island was placed under the authority of the Department of Justice and was used as an arrest. Low of the general public was permitted to go there and a defensive sea border of around 1.5 km was places around it. This was the place where previous president Nelson Mandela was submitted 1964 to serve a life sentence. Equipment to start out a war in the country was identified and 10 people altogether were charged.

Since 1997, Robben Island is a huge public and the public was allowed straight back to visit, leaving from your Waterfront in Cape Town. Plenty of work can be been done to try and bring back the wild-life that people lived with this area. The upper part is declared a bird sanctuary and today lots of penguins may also be found here.

No visit to the Cape is full without understanding more about its vivid record, setting foot with this area and paying a to Nelson Mandelas old jail cell. Boats leave for the island in the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town every day, so you dont miss out so ensure you check always out the times! When you arrive on the island, you will have the absolute most breathtaking view over Cape Town and Table Mountain. An impressive moment you'll cherish forever!. If you are concerned by politics, you will possibly choose to learn about this site.